TN college teachers want UGC to ensure guest lecturers are paid as mandated

Dr M Vasudevan, Retired Professor of Annamalai University who is the state office bearer of a teachers organization, told IANS "Guest lecturers are appointed in large numbers in the new colleges that are coming up in the state. They are paid a minuscule salary of Rs 20,000 per month and the UGC must look into this anomaly and take the payment to the level of Rs 50,000 per month as prescribed by the UGC for teachers of Higher Educational Institutions."

University Grants Commission Secretary Rajnish Jain had sent guidelines to all Vice-Chancellors including those of the Deemed universities on recruiting faculties in Higher Educational Institutions.

In the communique, the UGC secretary said that all the vacancies that come up along with reservation details be uploaded in the UGC portal and the selection would be monitored by the Ministry of Education.

The letter mentioned that all the selections should be in accordance with the acts, statutes, or per guidelines mentioned by the UGC. It also states that the Higher Educational Institutions should complete the selection process within six months including identification of vacancies, permission of filling up of vacancies, release of advertisement for vacancies, constitution of the selection committee, scrutiny of the application, and conduct of interviews and approval of the authority.

However, the college teachers said that the recruitment process has not been in accordance with the guidelines of the UGC but instead by other criteria including accepting money from the candidates.

With the UGC providing financial assistance to the government and government-aided colleges in the state to fill up teaching posts, educationists and teachers organisations say that this would be the apt time to correct the anomalies during the past few years in the appointment and selection process of teachers.